Making up and blabbering on.

It has been way too long and I apologize. I have just been hooked on the facebook thing and so I do not make it over here as much as I should. Some of you may be reading this on facebook. It is picking up the feed from our family blog. I hope that is not too confusing. Try this : http://www.gregjillandkids.blogspot.com/ Ok now that I have that all cleared up on with the show or a simple make up blog if you do not mind.

I am telling you at has been a royal struggle to get some motivation lately. Louie has stolen all of mine and I looked in the drawer, there is none left in reserve. It seems as though the insurance companies of late have been hammering on everything. It gets this way when they are slow. Each manager has to prove that his job is important. You know how it is. Nationwide had 4 different people review one of my estimates the other day. I do not do well when someone is critiquing me, especially someone that I do not even work for. It is the reviewers job to find errors in my estimate, ones that save them money. One recently found that I had just done a straight mark up on an alignment invoice. I was not supposed to do that. I needed to break done each operation and charge them accordingly. Ha, Ha that time it cost you stupid insurance company a whopping $6 more. I will teach you.

Body Shops are driven so much by what the insurance will allow. Sometimes I feel like a big puppet. "Yes sir Mr insurance, what you say big sir' One of these days I want to turn to whoever and say. "No! this is the bill, pay it!!!!"

Our shop's philosophy is honesty. We want to be paid for what we do and nothing more or less. It is becoming more and more difficult.

My darling little Kate finished up her softball season last week. She did not make the all-star team and was sort of disappointed. I was much more proud of her for getting the team's sportsmanship award. Sara commented at one of the games that our quiet Kate is the one down on the bench leading all of the cheers. Way to go Kate!!!! She only has a couple of days left and she is on to junior high.

Strat-o-matic

I am hooked again! I bought baseball for my computer and so now I can play games all the time without getting the board out. This is so much fun.

Strat-O-Matic Report

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BOXSCORE: 2008 Oakland Baysiders At 2008 Chicago (AL) Pale Hose
 
  Baysiders                AB  R  H RBI   Pale Hose                AB  R  H RBI
  M.Ellis 2B                5  1  1  0    O.Cabrera SS              4  0  0  0 
  K.Suzuki C                4  1  2  2    A.Pierzynski C            3  0  2  1 
  J.Cust LF                 2  0  0  0    C.Quentin LF              4  0  0  0 
B-R.Sweeney LF              0  0  0  0    J.Dye RF                  2  1  1  1 
  F.Thomas DH               4  0  0  0    J.Thome DH                4  0  0  0 
  E.Brown RF                4  0  2  0    P.Konerko 1B              2  0  0  0 
C-C.Gonzalez RF             0  0  0  0  D-K.Griffey Jr PH           1  0  0  0 
  B.Crosby SS               3  0  0  0    N.Swisher CF              3  0  0  0 
  J.Hannahan 3B             4  0  0  0    J.Crede 3B                1  0  0  0 
  D.Barton 1B               3  1  1  0  A-J.Uribe   ,3B             2  0  0  0 
  R.Davis CF                4  0  2  1    A.Ramirez 2B              3  1  1  0 
                           -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---
         Totals            33  3  8  3           Totals            29  2  4  2
 
A-Subbed Defensively (  ) For Crede In 4th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (LF) For Cust In 8th Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (RF) For Brown In 9th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Konerko In 9th Inning
 
INJURY: Joe Crede INJURED (for 2 more games) in 3rd inning
 
Baysiders....... 1 1 0  0 0 0  1 0 0  -  3  8  0
Pale Hose....... 0 1 0  0 0 1  0 0 0  -  2  4  0
 
Baysiders                IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC
J.Duchschere              5 1/3   4   2   2   2   3   1  71
J.Devine WIN              3       0   0   0   1   3   0  28
H.Street SAVE             0 2/3   0   0   0   0   1   0   8
Totals                    9       4   2   2   3   7   1
 
Pale Hose                IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC
M.Buehrle LOSS            8 1/3   8   3   3   3   6   1 122
B.Jenks                   0 2/3   0   0   0   0   0   0  10
Totals                    9       8   3   3   3   6   1
 
ATTENDANCE- 39,652 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average
UMPIRES- Jerry Meals, Bill Miller, Paul Emmel, Gary Darling
T- 2:27
LEFT ON BASE- Baysiders: 7  Pale Hose: 4
DOUBLE PLAYS- Baysiders: 2  Pale Hose: 0
DOUBLES- E.Brown, A.Pierzynski-2
TRIPLES- M.Ellis, R.Davis
HOME RUNS- K.Suzuki, J.Dye
CAUGHT STEALING- R.Davis
SACRIFICE HITS- B.Crosby
WALKS- J.Cust-2, D.Barton, J.Dye-2, P.Konerko
HIT BY PITCH- A.Pierzynski
STRIKE OUTS- J.Cust-2, F.Thomas, J.Hannahan-2, D.Barton, C.Quentin-2, J.Dye,
             J.Thome, N.Swisher, J.Crede, A.Ramirez
GIDP- J.Thome, J.Uribe

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Mannywood!!!!

My heart has been ripped out. I can feel the emptiness in that large cavern of my chest. (you notice I said large) I can feel the tear drops sliding down my cheek. In fact I find my self in that day dream stare that you have when you find out that your puppy love has checked the large no box on the note you just passed through English class.
Yesterday we found out that the Dodgers big star, Manny Ramirez, has been busted. Out for 50 games, possibly back around the 4th of July. Not that I am a big Manny fan. I do not own the dreadlocks sold at the stadium or live in Mannywood. He was just a big part of my team. Where do I go? What do I do to get out of this funk?
I realize now that I cannot become a player fan, I am a team fan. These players take the buyouts, sell themselves on the open market and use drugs they know are illegal. It is just an open sore ready to ooze. My Dodgers will live on without Mr. Manny. Let's just live for the game. Pretend we do not see the faces or know the names. I am cheering for the uniform and the cursive writing across the chest. GO DODGERS!!
I know the solution.... the announcers cannot use the players real name and the players wear bank robbers masks. We cannot know who they are. Can you imagine a John Stockton to Karl Malone assist like this..... " The small point guard passes to the big power forward for the slam dunk and ... ouch he bonks his head on the back board because his mask covered his eyes. " I think that works.
Seriously, get the druggies out of the game. There is always someone else to take those places. In fact here are my stats: 5'9" weight 195 played 20 years ago and hit a slow pitch softball every time up for 6 years straight. No strikeouts! I think I could get at least 30 million don't you think?

And the WINNER is......

Hi my name is Greg (Hello Greg) and I am an addict. A gambling addict, I can feel the pulse of my heart deep in my chest. The thump, thump..thump, thump keeps the blood running throughout my veins. Much like the rush you get at a NASCAR race. The roar of the engines down the front stretch gets it going. Also waiting for that third king when you have a pocket pair, or betting the pass line and holding your breath to make sure that no 7 or 11 is rolled at the craps table.

A few years ago I had the experience of going to Reno, Nevada with some friends for a business meeting. I am a gambler by nature. I ran the football book from my 6Th grade year all through high school. I lost more money betting against the Jazz than I can remember. Anyway in Reno these friends taught me craps. I had so much fun. being up $60 dollars going to bed made my heart race. After about 1 hour in the morning was in the hole 20 and looking for the ATM. Gambling is an addiction I cannot face.

Sunday the stake president got the blood pumping. We are getting a new bishopric next week. He told us to tell our friends, and I started the odds table. Looking around the room and keeping your eye out for the oddities of the ward can be so much fun. I heard the whispers.... you know "he has bought some new suits recently", or "how many times has he even talked to me." Don't lie to me either, you were looking for the weird things that have happened recently. Fun thing would be just to invite your family into town Saturday, then the rumor mill will really be flying. I have my front runners. This is not the place to lay them out, but if you want to call I will give you the low down.

And the WINNER is .......... (wait for it..... wait for it)